1. Technical Field
The invention relates to systems for monitoring efficiency and predicting failures for mechanical devices, such as vehicles. In particular, the invention relates to systems capable of real-time monitoring of fuel efficiency and predictive maintenance for vehicles.
2. Related Art
Demand for energy, such as oil, gas, electricity, is at an all-time high and is predicted to increase for the foreseeable future. This increasing demand is in contrast to the resources for energy that remain essentially static. Because of this, energy prices will likely continue to rise.
Faced with these rising energy costs, many companies have attempted to reduce energy consumption for their vehicles. One way is for the company to collect and analyze past energy usage for the vehicles. For example, the amount of fuel used and the number of miles driven over one or more months are typically collected. The collected energy data is then analyzed in order to determine the fuel efficiency of the vehicles, and to compare the determined fuel efficiency with an expected fuel efficiency. If the determined fuel efficiency is lower that expected, this may indicate a problem in the vehicle, such as requiring maintenance of the vehicle. The vehicle may then be serviced in order to correct for the lower than expected fuel efficiency.
While this method may improve fuel efficiency of vehicles, given the increasing cost of energy, there is a need to further improve fuel efficiency of vehicles.